Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Lifted by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 415.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,883 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 61,974 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.3% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 16.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,691 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,453,000 after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 137.2% during the first quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EWA LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 50.2% in the first quarter. EWA LLC now owns 7,534 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,342,000 after acquiring an additional 2,518 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.30, for a total value of $372,912.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 8,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,113,017.50. This represents a 5.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.97, for a total transaction of $333,391.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,697,760.59. This represents a 5.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 213,663 shares of company stock valued at $164,569,365 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial set a $880.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $870.00 to $825.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $829.66.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $733.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $744.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $687.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.55, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.